An empty coffin and a woman superglued to the gates of Buckingham Palace. This is Extinction Rebellion. An international movement of activists, centered in the UK, who are protesting and marching for the protection of the environment. They list only three demands. 1: “The Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens.” 2: “The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels.” 3: “A national Citizen’s Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.”
They are a nonviolent group that is seeking the protection and insurance of the environment and human lives by orchestrating change to end the mass extinction that is being faced due to human impact. The Center for Biological Diversity has stated that “Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day” This unprecedented environmental devastation is wiping out much of our biological diversity.
The website of the Extinction Rebellion movement encourages people to join in its movement as long as they follow its values which include protesting peacefully, creating a safe and healthy world for posterity, redistributing power more equitably, changing power constructs, and invoking change. On November 24, around 2,000 activists marched on Buckingham Palace in London, demanding the change in environmental policies, targeting one of Britain’s highest powers, her royal highness, the Queen. Fourteen people were arrested on this day in peaceful protest, one man who spray painted the newfound logo for this movement (an hourglass-shaped ‘X’ in a circle) and a woman who superglued herself to the gates of the palace. All this went on while the leading marchers carried an empty coffin made to symbolize the species and environment lost in the ongoing Holocene extinction.
Will this group be another wave of change from voices that have so long been silenced? Much like the March for Our Lives movement, a new generation has awoken and will not be quiet for much longer.
